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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24250615">Simple Pleasures</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/hazellvesque/pseuds/hazellvesque'>hazellvesque</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Miraculous Ladybug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Aged-Up Ladynoir, F/M, Oneshot, shameless makeouts</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 21:21:54</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,370</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24250615</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/hazellvesque/pseuds/hazellvesque</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>She notices the way he always stares, like he can't bring himself to look away. He hasn't noticed the way she stares right back.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>109</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Simple Pleasures</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“What are you thinking about? ” </p><p>Chat Noir startled, only just realizing he’d been staring for longer than he should have.</p><p>The sun had long since set, the golden glow of the evening fading to leave the pair in silvery, starlit silence. Ladybug had been watching the night sky twinkle above intently, just as her partner had been watching her. </p><p>“Huh?” He asked lamely, his brain finally catching up. </p><p>“You looked like you were distracted,” Ladybug shrugged. “By something important, maybe.” </p><p>Truthfully? He’d been counting the freckles across the bridge of her nose, memorizing the curve of her lips, pushing away the temptation to lean in closer because he knew she’d push him away with a sympathetic giggle and shake of her head like she always did. </p><p>He’d never dare to cross any boundary she set. But sometimes his mind couldn’t help but wander and imagine. </p><p>“Nothing,” he told her. </p><p>Ladybug narrowed her eyes at him.</p><p>“Fine,” she teased, “don’t tell me. I have to say, though, whatever it was, it seemed <em> really </em> important.” </p><p>Like he’d been thinking about it for hours? Days? Months? He’d lost track of the amount of time he’d been lost in his daydreams. It had been happening more and more often lately, against his better judgement. </p><p>“You know you can tell me anything, right?” she whispered it like a secret meant just for him.</p><p>“Do you promise you won’t get mad?”</p><p>“I promise,” she said, the two simple words uttered so earnestly.</p><p>A very big promise to keep, yet he trusted her every word. </p><p>“Honestly…” he gulped down air, trying to stop the rapid rhythm of his heart from holding him back. “I was thinking about you.”</p><p>“What about me?” she tilted her head. “Not trying to figure out who I am under the mask, are you?”</p><p>“No,” he said quickly and honestly. “Not that, it’s uh. . .”</p><p>He coughed awkwardly into his fist, unable to finish his thought aloud. Ladybug sat back and blinked in surprise, her brows furrowing. </p><p>“You’re <em> really </em> nervous, aren’t you?”  she frowned just slightly. “You’ve poured your entire heart out to me before, what makes this so different?” </p><p>She wasn’t wrong. He had taken his shot countless times. Though, all things considered, he’d also been turned down every time. Even he’d been shocked by his own unwavering confidence on some of his previous attempts. Now though, that bravery was nowhere to be found, replaced instead by trembling fingertips and a nervous fluttering in his stomach that just wouldn’t go away.</p><p>“This time I wanted to. . .” God, why was it so difficult to just <em> spit it out </em>? “. . .to ask you a favor.” </p><p>“Anything,” she immediately replied.</p><p>“Don’t get my hopes up like that.”</p><p>“I mean it,” she scooted closer to lean her head on his shoulder. “Whatever you need, I’ll do it.” </p><p>“Really?” </p><p>“Really. Because I feel like this is something very important to you and I want to help.” </p><p>He said it so quietly he wasn’t sure he’d even spoken aloud at all, a rush of words he’d been dying to admit but was terrified of all the same: “I can’t remember our first kiss.” </p><p>Ladybug pulled away only slightly, her bluebell eyes catching his. The smallest smile crept across her lips. “Is that all? You want to remember?” she whispered. </p><p>“Yes,” he swallowed again, wishing he didn’t look at red in the face as he felt. It didn’t help that she was still <em> so close </em>, hugging his arm against her. </p><p>“Kiss me, then.” She said it so casually. As if it were no big deal, as if she didn’t think hearing those words would make Chat Noir’s pulse rise so rapidly that he felt like he would faint.</p><p>Her eyes locked on his. Unwavering, anticipating. A bit playful.</p><p>Chat released the last bit of air from his lungs. “You know I’m not that brave,” his words released so quietly they were nearly lost to the wind. </p><p>Moving her hand to his jaw, tilting their heads even closer, Ladybug took in every visible feature of his face. “An odd statement from the hero of Paris. You may not think you’re brave, but I <em> know </em> you are.” </p><p>With that, she leaned even further, pressing their foreheads together. Her eyelids fluttered shut, leaving Chat feeling all too vulnerable. The touch of her gloved hand was so delicate against his face, her skin so soft, her entire being so close, so tempting.</p><p>“Why…?” he breathed, too afraid to speak with their faces this close. Too afraid to ask why she decided only now to indulge him. Even in his daydreams, she was never the one to initiate. “What are you up to?”</p><p>Ladybug opened one eye, her smile returning. “You aren’t the only one who’s been lost in thought lately.” </p><p>“About me?” It seemed all too unreal, all too selfish to even consider.</p><p>But she pulled back just far enough to nod. Once. Then again, more certain this time. </p><p>And that was all the confirmation he needed before closing the gap between them, pressing his lips against hers. Gentle and hesitant, afraid that either his eagerness or his inexperience would sour the moment.</p><p>Almost as if she could read his mind (and perhaps she could), her lips parted slightly as she deepened the kiss, her arms wrapping around his shoulders and neck as she welcomed his touch. </p><p>He melted into her completely, his mind racing through every incomprehensible fantasy of this moment, none matching up to the truth of how utterly alive he felt as his hands grasped at her hip, pulling her into his lap, capturing her lips between his over and over and over again.</p><p>Her hands wandered up and down his back, across his neck, into his hair as she fought to pull him closer. He swore she could feel his heart pounding, the deep erratic pulse reaching all the way to his fingertips that held tight to her, never wanting to let go. </p><p>Chat dared to pull his face away from hers for only a moment. Just a few precious seconds to take in the freckles dotting the flushed pink canvas of her face. </p><p>Her entire expression - her low eyelids and dazed stare and kiss-swollen lips - it was all like something from a dream. </p><p>This time, she was the one to pull them back together, her ankles locking around his waist as she pressed eager, determined kisses into the corner of his mouth, moving across his jaw and down his neck in a way that sent him reeling. </p><p>She captured his lips again, smiling against them as she angled their faces perfectly. One last lingering kiss before she pulled back just far enough to smile at him. </p><p>“You know, a long time ago,” she began, “I promised myself that the next time you asked to kiss me, I wouldn’t say no.” </p><p>Chat took in a slow, labored breath. “What made you say that?”</p><p>Ladybug tilted her head sideways as the thought. The moonlight reflecting off her face and her still pink cheeks and curious expression made Chat want to lean in again, but he resisted. </p><p>Finally, she answered, “I figured it was time I stop holding back. We shouldn’t deny ourselves simple pleasures.” </p><p>On the contrary, Chat thought this new... <em> something </em> with Ladybug would be anything but simple. It was a culmination of every wild and impossible thought he’d had for years, all coming true in an unbelievable instant that he still couldn’t quite comprehend. Were it not for the feel of her legs wrapped around him, her chest still rising and falling in time with their synchronized breaths, and the dazed fuzziness still buzzing around his head, he still wouldn’t quite believe it. </p><p>“And I wasn’t sure if you’d agree,” she continued. “But the way you were staring at me tonight was unmistakable.” </p><p>“But I always stare at you that way,” he said without thinking. </p><p>She laughed and kissed his lips again, reigniting his entire body. Chat took her in slowly this time, feeling more sure of himself. They stayed that way for only a moment before she pulled back, leaving their foreheads resting together once more. </p><p>“I know,” she sighed. “And it’s about time I did something about it.” </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>4am is peak longing hours and I've been listening to too many Jonas Brothers songs about them loving their wives so take this filth and go</p></blockquote></div></div>
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